A trip checklist is two lists that are usually confused: the traveler's bag, which is the packing list, and the office's list of what has to be booked, confirmed, prepared, handed over and filed for the trip to work. This page is the second. A business travel checklist template can name the categories but cannot know that this trip has two legs, one hotel, four transfers and four meetings; the free business trip checklist on this site counts the items from those, and the business trip essentials it produces are this trip's rather than a generic trip's. What follows is the list, section by section, and why each item is on it.
Before departure: the confirmations
Every leg, night and transfer is a confirmation to file against the trip: seven on the worked example. Each one carries a reference, the dates, the fare or rate and the cancellation terms, and the office reads the Department of Transportation's rules on refunds when one moves. A trip checklist that says 'confirm flights' has not counted them; this one has, and it shows which are missing.
Before departure: the meetings
Each meeting adds four items: the agenda, the materials, the address and the contact who is expected. Four meetings are sixteen items, more than the travel itself, and that is right, because the trip exists for the meetings. A business travel checklist template rarely includes them at all; the business trip essentials for the office are these more than the bookings.
The day before, and the fixed items
Eight items fall on the day before on the worked example: the documents, the hotel confirmation printed, the chargers, the plan, and the items that are the same for every trip (approval on file, policy read, allowance noted, emergency contacts current on the register). For an international trip the State Department's Traveler's Checklist adds the passport validity, the advisory read and the STEP enrolment. These are the items a traveler cannot recover at the airport.
After return: the close
Three fixed items plus one per meeting: receipts filed to the expense process, the register updated, the trip closed, and a follow-up sent to each meeting. Seven on the worked example. Perdiemo Pro keeps the checklist against the trip and marks the trip home when the last item is ticked, which is how the estimate, the bookings and the outcome end up on one record for the next trip to plan from.
Questions people ask about trip checklist
What goes on a trip checklist?
The confirmations to file per leg, night and transfer; the preparation per meeting; the day-before items and the fixed ones; the close on return. The free checklist counts them from the trip.
Is there a business travel checklist template?
The sections on this page are the template; the free business trip checklist worksheet fills it in from the days, meetings, legs, hotels, transfers and documents of your trip.
What are the business trip essentials for the office?
The approval on file, every confirmation filed, every meeting prepared, the plan and the checklist handed over, the register current, and the close on return.